Those of you who watched President Obama’s State of the Union Address know he announced that he will establish by Executive Order a minimum wage of $10.10 for all federal contractors and subcontractors. A proposal backed by the White House is currently pending in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage for all employers from $7.25 to $10.10. There is strong opposition to the proposed law. The President’s anticipated Executive Order does not need Congressional approval because it will not impact all employers, just those who have federal contracts or subcontracts. Until a draft Executive Order is proposed, we will not know details, such as whether it will be limited to companies with contracts that exceed certain dollar amount thresholds. We will post again when more details are available.
In addition, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently released the required form for requesting voluntary self-identification by applicants and employees with disabilities. This form can be used immediately for post-offer applicants and current employees. Employers can begin using this form for pre-offer applicants after March 24, 2014 and are required to do so when they implement their first Affirmative Action Plan taking effect after March 24, 2014. OFCCP has indicated that the form can be converted into electronic format if it:
- Displays the OMB number and expiration date;
- Contains the text of the form without alteration;
- Uses a sans-serif font, such as Calibri or Arial; and
- Uses at least 11-pitch for font size (with the exception of the footnote and burden statement, which must be at least 10-pitch in size).
For more information on changes to regulations regarding affirmative action for individuals with disabilities and also on changes to regulations regarding affirmative action for veterans, you can obtain a recording of our webinar, which was recorded on January 15, 2014, here. We also hosted a webinar on January 29, 2014 titled, “Tips for Developing and Updating Affirmative Action Plans,” which is available here. We are also hosting our final webinar in our three-part series on February 12, 2014, titled, “Tips For Handling OFCCP Audits.” You can sign up for this webinar here.
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